What are the characteristics of breathy voicing?
Breathy voicing, associated with confidential or intimate communication situations, is characterised by air escape during voicing, usually by incomplete closure of the vocal folds. The vocal folds are connected to a single point at the front of the larynx, on the thyroid cartilage. However, at the back, they are connected to separate arytenoid cartilages. The arytenoids can rotate and swivel to draw the vocal folds across the air-way and to tension them. If the arytenoids fail to close off the air way properly, then a gap can occur at the back through which air can escape even in the vocal fold cycle closed phase. The presence of the gap creates a narrowing through which the air-flow can become turbulent, generating a noise signal, which in combination with a weaker closing pulse is indicative of breathy voice. A very short closed phase is also associated with breathy voice, perhaps 30-40% of the total voicing cycle duration.
